Slide-valve for gas-engines.



S. T. ALLEN.

SLIDE VALVE FOR GAS ENGINES. APPLICATQON FILED Fig-16,1916.

1 ,287.4%. Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

I 3SHEETS-SHEET 1.

fivnfar war/77027 74/7 S. T. ALLEN.

SLIDE VA LVE FOR GAS ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-16,19l6.

Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 S. T. ALLEN.

SLIDE VALVEFOR GAS ENGINES.

APPLICATION man FEB. 16. me.

Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

3 S'HEETSSHEET 3- 15704237292? Jkermam W416.

SHERMAN T. ALLEN, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SLIDE-VALVE FOR GAS-ENGINES.

To all whomz't may concern:

Be it known that I, SHERMAN T. ALLEN,

. a citizen of the United States, residing at by the slide valves may be actuated from a Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Slide-Valves for Gas-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a slide valve for internal combustion engines and particularly pertains to a valve of the reciprocal sleeve type for controlling-theintake and exhaust of an engine.

It is the object of this invention to provide avalve of theabove type-so constructed andarranged as to operate in the upper portion of an engine cylinder above and clear of an engine piston in the cylinder to f alternately open and close intake and exhaust ports formed in the side Walls of the engine cylinder adjacent the "upper end thereof and which permits the removal and replacement of the valve without'disturbing the engine piston or its connections.

Another obj ect-is to provide means wherepoint above the engine cylinder. 2 I

Another object is to'provide a simple and compact slide valve embodying a pair of telescoping relatively movable sleeve members having ports in their side walls adapted to register with each other and with intake and exhaust ports in the side walls of the engine "cylinder and to also provide means for longitudinally reciprocating'the sleeves in the direction of the strokeof the engine piston and'in opposed directions in relation to each other.

Another object is to provide'a construction in the valve sleeves to permit expansion and contraction thereof without causing a binding action.

A further ob ect sleeves.

While I have shown the invention as applied to an engine cylinder of sufficient length to accommodate the travel of'cthe piston and the movement of the "sliding sleeve members, it isan object to provide aset of'said valves with their tnnlng gears and the timing shaft mounted in a compact housing which may be readily applied to an engine of the T-head type without alteration of the engine save't'o remove and discard the old cylinder heads:

Specification ofLetters Patent.

. gine.

is to provide means forrestricting the expansion of the valve Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

Application filed February 16, 1916. Serial No. 78,664.

Other objects will appear hereinafter. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

' Figure 1 is a view in vertical section and elevation showing my invention as applied to a four cylinder internal combustion en- Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail section more .clearly showing the. construction and arrangenientof the slide valve.

Fig. 3 is a detail horizontal section and plan view as seen on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. -Fig. 4C is an enlarged detail section, illustrating the 'manner of packing the valve stems.

. Fig. 5 is a view of the valve in perspective, as removed. I

Fig.'- 6 is a detail in-perspective of the expansion restricting ring. i

Fig. 7'is a detail in section and elevation showing the manner of splitting the valve sleeve to permit of expansion thereof with "gram illustrating the operation of the valve.

More specifically, 20 indicates an engine cylinder'which may be mounted singly or in multiple in any suitable manner and which is fitted with a reciprocal piston 21 attached to a piston rod 22 connecting with a crank shaft 23, asis common in internal combustion engine construction.

The present invention resides in a slide valve adapted to be mounted within the upper portion of the engine cylinder 20 and above and'clear of the-piston 21. This slide valve embodies/a pair of telescoping slidable sleeves 2 1 and 25 which are formed with transverse ports 26, 27, 28 and 29 arranged upon the sleeves in pairs and positioned on diametrically opposite sides thereof. The ports 26 and 28 are formed within the walls of the sleeve 25 in off-set relation to each other with port 28 on a plane higher than that of port 26, and ports 27 and 29 are formed within the walls of passage 30 and exhaust passage 31 formedsleeve 24 on different planesand in opposed staggered relation to the ports 26 and 28. The ports 26 and 27 are-positioned in the same vertical line of travel and ports 28 and 29 are similarly arranged. In this manner it is possible for the pair .of ports 26 and 27 to register at a given point in the travel of the sleeves and the ports 28 and 29 to register at another point; the registering of each pair ofj-ports being alternate. By this arrangement when one set or pair of ports is in register the other overlaps, thus makingit possible for a gas to enter or leave through but one side of the valve at a time. .ther consideration of the above describedports has been given to arrange them in such relation to each other and to an inlet through the cylinder walls, that-but one set of ports is in register-with one 'of these passages at a 'time, thus making it impossible for the engine toback-fireinto the'carbureter or the unburned gas to pass directly through the cylinder and out the exhaust manifold.

In the preferred form of myvalve mechanism I'have formed each of the sleeves with a vertically extending shank or stem 32 continuing from the sleeve wall, by which the sleeve may be reciprocated. The upperend of the shank is here shown as providedwith a boss 33 within which is a-bore 34 adapted to receive a wrist pin 35. The wrist pin 35 extends toward the center ofthe cylinder and is ofsufficient length to permit one end of a pitman rod 36 to bemounted thereon. The opposite'end of said rod is rotatably mounted upon a portion 37 of a timing shaft 38. It is manifest that-the pitman' rods may be otherwise connected to the sleeves.

The shaft 38 extends the entire length of the engine and ispositioned in suitable bearingsapproximately over the-center of the cylin-- ders. The'portions 37 of said timing shaft are eccentric to the center of the-shaft and i are positioned at ninety degrees to each other as they are arranged the length of the 1 shaft.

The timing shaft ishere" shown as rotated by a vertically extending rod 39 .-whichhas mounted on its opposite ends worm gears 40 and 41 meshing with driving gear 42 mounted upon the mainengine shaft and a-driven gear 43 mounted upon the tim-- ing shaft.

It has been found that in constructing a pair of'sliding sleeves ofa length asshort as embodied inmy invention,-it is very diffsv cult to properly pack-them without interfering with the travel of the ports along. the engine cylinder and along the surfacesof 'each other. In the preferred form of my invention I have overcome this difficulty by disoardingypiston rings as in common use and'in lieu thereof formmg a vertically extending slot 44 approximately the width Furof the ring and at a position along the center line of the shanks. In this manner I readily. expand into its proper position and prevent'leakage around the port. In order to limit the expansion of these sleeves and remove the danger of the sleeves expanding --w,hen heated andthus freezing to each other and to the cylinder wall, I have provided each sleeve with an expansion restricting ring 45. The expansion restricting ring 45 is a simple annular ring which is of a slightly reduced outside diameter in com Sparison with the diameter of the sleeve, thus insuring a sliding fit between it and the member inwhich it moves, even though it is expanded by the heat. This ring is shown in the preferred form of my invention as only being applied to the lower end of each 1 sleeve. However, in the modification, it has been possible to' split the sleeve entirely through and thus it has been necessary to apply one of said rings to the top and the bottom of each sleeve.

"To obviate, any tendency for gas to leak fromthe cylinder :around the openings through which the shanks 32 pass, I. have provided special packing and a specialmeans of mounting' the cylinder head 46.

This means consists of a ring 47 which is securely bolted over thexopening in the upper part of the cylinder; The internal diameter of said ring is threaded and adapted to receive a threaded portion 48 upon the outer diameter ofthe cylinder head. "A recess 49 has been formed at one side of the ring to permit the shank 32 of the sleeve 24 to have free travelther'ethrough. An arcuateslot 50'is formed-diametrically opposite to slot 49 for the accommodation of the shank on sleeve 25.' In order to securely. pack these shanks, channels have been formed, as indi- {shanks by which-the sleeves are oscillated are not formed as a continuation of the ,sleeve walls.- In this form these shanks are i substantially cylindrical as indicated at 55,

an off-set portion 56 connecting them-to the interior ofeach sleeve. I havehere shown them as integral with? the sleeve. They, however, may be formed of separate parts and secured; thereto, With-this'form of construction it has been; found necessary to slot the inner sleeve as. indicated at 57, to

allow the movement of 'the portion 53 sleeve 25 therein. The shanks are packed have made the sleeve" resilient so that it will cylinder and may be changed to accommodate the timing of engines of various numbers of cylinders. The throws on the timing shaft are so arranged that they will permit the slide valves in each cylinder to register each set of ports alternately with their respective intake or exhaust manifolds in the manner as is common in four-cycle engine construction. It will thus be seen that the valves will operate to cause the engine to explode in each of its cylinders as is common and that any expansion of the sleeve members will be limited by the expansion rings which are of such an inside diameter as to prevent the sleeve members freezing in position.

While I have shown the preferred forms of my slide valve as now known to me, it is evident that various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a slide valve for internal combustion engines, the combination of a pair of telescoping slidable sleeves, a slot extending a portion of the way through the width of said sleeves, and an expansion restricting ring adapted to be mounted upon each of said sleeves.

2. In an internal combustion engine, an

engine cylinder having a reciprocal piston therein, a cover for the upper end of the cylinder having an annular inwardly projecting portion spaced from the inner wall of the cylinder, a pair of telescoping slidable sleeves mounted adjacent the cover and adapted to extend into the space between the projection on the cover and the wall of the cylinder and arranged above the uppermost position of the piston, said sleeves ha ving ports adapted to' register with each other and with ports in the engine cylinders, pitman rods connected to said sleeves, and means operating on said pitman rods for reciprocating the sleeves independent of each other.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

SHERMAN T. ALLEN.

Washington, D. 0. 

